Clamping tables



March 13, 1962 R. GEORGE ETAL 'JLAMPING TABLES Filed Dec. 3, 1958 INVENTOR.

Q am ea. 742% "aren't 3,025,050 CLAMPING TABLES Hayden R. George, 181 Carnation Ave, and Norman B. Fisher, 14 Orchard Lane, both of Uniontown, Pa. Filed Dec. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 777,937 1 Claim. (Cl. 269-159) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in tables used in sewing shops for handling material between successive steps of sewing operations, and it is among the objects thereof to provide a table for supporting and clamping cloth materials in a folded or straight position whereby it can be transported from one section of a shop to another and the goods clamped or mounted on said table are available to be acted upon without removal by the operators of the sewing machines to which the table is transported.

The invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the accompanying drawing constituting a part hereof in which like reference characters designate like parts and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a cloth folding and clamping table for sewing shops embodying the principles of this invention;

FIGURE 2, an end elevational view thereof; and,

FIGURE 3, a top plan view of the table.

In the drawing, the numeral 1 designates a base on which is mounted a pair of uprights 2 and 3, in the manner of ordinary sawhorses, the uprights being joined by a connecting beam 4 at the top which supports a table base 5.

The base 1 is provided with cross members 6 that engage the uprights 2 and 3 to firmly secure these as end frame members and a tie rod 7 connects the table top portion with the base 1 in the manner shown in FIGURES 1 and 2.

Mounted on the base 1 are a pair of uprights or frame members 8 and 9 having flange portions 10 by which they are fastened to the base 1 by screw bolts 11, FIGURE 1. These upright frame members support a pair of spaced arms 12 that are pivoted on the frames 6 and 9 at 13, as shown in FIGURE 2. The arms 12 at the ends engage a clamping bar 14 having a facing material 15 of an abrasive nature such as sandpaper for clamping fabric as shown in FIGURE 2. The rear of the arms 12 are pivotally connected at 16 to an operator bar 17 that is pivotally connected at 1 8 to an arm 19. The arm 19 is pivotally supported at 2i) to the uprights 8 and 9. A brace 21 is connected across the frame members 2 and 3, as shown in FIGURE 2. The operator bar 17 is actuated in the direction of the double arrow to actuate the arms 12 to bring the clamping bar 14 in contact with the stack of material designated by the numeral 22, the material being folded and laid on an abrasive surface 23 of the table.

The operating bar 17 is actuated by a crossbar 24 consisting of an inverted angle which the operator may bear down on to cause the arms 12 to tilt to grippingly engage the folded material in the manner shown in the dot and dash lines in FIGURE 2 of the drawings. The arms 12 are locked in clamping engagement by means of a notched bar or toothed rack designated by the numeral 25 having teeth 26, as shown in FIGURE 2. These teeth are engaged by the crossbar 24 to securely lock the clamping arms 12 in clamping position. The toothed rack 25 may be released by means of a lever 27 pivoted to the bar 25 at 28 and pivoted to a foot treadle 29 which is connected to the lever 27 to which it is pivotally mounted at 39.

The foot pedal 29 is hinged on a bracket 31, FIGURES 1 and 2, and if the operator desires to remove the bundle of material from the table top, she simply depresses the foot pedal 29 to release the ratchet bar 25 and the spring 32 will automatically raise the arms 12.

The clamping table may be mounted on casters or rollers 33 to be readily transportable through the shop.

By means of the above-described clamping table, the operator may wheel the same alongside of a sewing machine and work on the strands of the cloth 22 as they lay over the edge of the table without removing the bundle from the table. In this manner, the folded material can be maintained on the table and wheeled to different sewing machines for different operations, each sewing station performing some stitching operation or attaching some tape or other binding material to the strands of the cloth.

Although one embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from the principles herein set forth.

We claim:

A clamping table for transporting material in sewing shops consisting of a portable support having a base, a plurality of upright frames supported on said base, a connecting beam fastened to said frames having a table mounted thereon, said table having a top surface of abrasive material for frictionally supporting loosely folded fabric placed thereon, a pair of spaced-end frames supported on said base, the upper end portions of said end frames extending above said table, a plurality of clamping arms pivotally connected to said upper end portions, a clamping bar secured to one end of each of said clamping arms, an operating bar pivotally connected to the other end of one of said clamping arms, a cross bar, a pair of levers connecting said cross-bar to said upright frames, one of said connecting levers pivoted to one of said end frame members and to said operating bar, spring means between said connecting lever and one of said upright members to normally bias the crossbar to its raised position, and a ratchet mechanism mounted on said base for engagement with said cross-bar for locking and releasing said clamping arm, whereby when said cross-bar is lowcred the clamping bar grippingly engages fabric placed on the table top thereby enabling the transportation of the fabric within a sewing shop.

References Cited in the file of this patent 

